Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that inappropriate usage of Hindu deities or concepts or symbols for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that Shakti (or Devi—a general term for the Goddess as supreme/principal/absolute deity; which include Durga, Lakshmi, Kali, Saraswati, etc.) was highly venerated in Hinduism since Vedic times and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be used in selling beer.

Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled, Rajan Zed noted.

It was deeply trivializing of immensely revered Goddess to be portrayed on a beer label like this, Zed stated.

Goddesses find mention in Rig-Veda, the oldest of Hinduism’s extant texts. Texts such as Devimahatmya, etc., glorify the Goddess as the supreme being and detail her all-pervading primordial powers.